Brampton Environmental Alliance hosts Annual General Meeting

The Brampton Environmental Alliance held its first official Annual General Meeting this past Wednesday. It was a well-attended hybrid event with 24 voting members, 2 non-voting members and 5 guests in attendance. Notable among the guest was Brampton North MPP Graham McGregor.

The meeting kicked off with a keynote presentation by 18 year old environmental activist Sara Sayed. Sarah spoke about the seriousness of the climate threat we face and how important it is for communities to take action to address the problem.

Sarah Syed speaking at the annual general meeting of the Brampton Environmental Alliance
Sarah Syed speaking at BEA AGM

She indicated that, while the problem is immense, the tools and technologies are available to provide solutions, if sufficient resources are applied. She told the group about her innovation using starch-based compounds to develop plastics that are more easily bio-degradable than their petroleum-based counterparts.

She left the group with a feeling of hope and optimism that the youth, working and advocating with the older generation can to mitigate against the worst of the climate threat.

After Sarah’s presentation, the formal agenda started. A slate of Directors was elected for a one-year term including: David Laing – Chair and President, Harri Bridgemohan – Vice-President and Treasurer, Dayle Laing – Secretary, Stacey Wilson – Director Events, Rajbalinder Ghatoura – Director Memberships, Arjou Goud – Director Community Development, and Debbie Valentine – Director at Large.

Harri then reviewed the state of BEA finances which relies on donations, grants and memberships to fund BEA work. The organization ended the year with a small surplus and has additional grant opportunities pending for the coming year. Stacey Wilson, then provided an update on BEA events, Rajbalinder provided an update on BEA memberships and Arjou Goud provided an update on planned community partnerships.

As a last agenda item, BEA member Steve Papagiannis provided his report and recommendations for changes to Ontario’s Environmental Bill of Rights. Members voted to endorse the report which Steve was then to submit to the Law Commission of Ontario by this past Friday.

The meeting adjourned at 9:00pm. Access the meeting minutes here.

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